Their clothing was torn off by the branches of trees or rotted from the damp; their provisions became exhausted and they were forced to eat their horses, then their dogs, a thousand of which latter animals they had taken along for hunting down the natives. They were extremely ferocious, and could not have been put to a better use than that in which they served the starving Spaniards.
When horses and dogs were gone, the only food available consisted of roots and herbs, upon which the miserable explorers lived for months. They found the forests of cinnamon, but could not make use of the aromatic bark; they saw signs of gold, but could not carry it away; and when in the midst of their greatest perils, they made a discovery which has linked the name of Pizarro with the greatest river in the world.
Deeming it impossible to return to Peru, Gonzalo caused a boat to be built, from green timbers cut in the forest, put together with nails made from horse-shoes, and calked with rags from the soldiers' raiment. It was not large enough to contain them all, but fifty of the feebler men embarked in it, commanded by Francisco de Orellana, who had come from Gonzalo's own town of Truxillo. They embarked, and the swift current swept them away, never more to be seen by Gonzalo; but they emerged at last on the Atlantic, and carried to Spain tidings of the great river Amazon.
With the disappearance of the rude brigantine, the soldiers yielded themselves to despair; but Gonzalo was equal to the emergency, and, though they had then been a year in the forest, and another year elapsed before they emerged, he eventually led them through all besetting perils—all that was left of them, eighty soldiers and two thousand Indians—over the mountains, and out upon the plains of Quito.
They were welcomed by their friends as if they had risen from their graves; and, indeed, for two years they had been as effectually cut off from the world as if buried beneath the ground. No word had reached them of what had happened in Peru, but when they heard they were thunder-struck, their gallant leader especially being overcome with grief.
Gonzalo had left his brother, the governor, in the midst of his family, with every prospect of passing the remainder of his days in serene content. But the elder Pizarro had committed the fatal mistake of trusting men whose memories of the past were filled with bitterness.
He himself never forgot an insult nor forgave one. Why, then, should he assume that other men had shorter memories? He allowed the son of Almagro not only to live in Lima, after he had deprived him of his father's legacies, but to occupy a house on the same square with himself. He heard, from time to time, rumors of gatherings in that house which boded no good to himself: of meetings at night, attended by dark-browed conspirators against his power, perhaps against his life.
He knew that the "men of Chile" had latterly come in from the country, where they had lived for years in poverty. By twos and threes they had stealthily gained admittance to the city, and, growing bold at Pizarro's indifference, were wont to assemble in Almagro's house.
The governor's secretary, one Picado, warned him that these men were plotting against his life; but Pizarro was too brave, too self-confident, to take alarm.
A few days later he came to Pizarro in genuine alarm. It comes from Father, who obtained it in confession from a man of Chile. It is this: Only last night they met—twenty of them—at Almagro's house.
Juan de Rada sat at the head of the table. Yes, he is the leader of the conspirators. Ha, you start! You taxed him with buying a suit of mail and a sword, and what did he say, your excellency?
And I replied, 'Please God, Juan de Rada, I shall do no such thing,' and gave him some oranges, at which he kissed my hand, departing well pleased. Well pleased that he had fooled your excellency!
But, know you, he it is who has sworn to waylay you to-morrow, coming from morning mass, and stab you to the heart! It is true, oh, believe me. Be warned in time, and send those men of Chile all to prison. But who told you? I have it. It is a trick of his. He is tired of being a priest, and wants me to make him bishop! But he was not so insensible to the warning as he had made the secretary believe, for he sought out his chief judge, Velasquez, told him the story, and asked his advice.
The judge listened intently, then replied: "I will inquire into this affair, your excellency. But, meanwhile, have no fear," he added, pompously; "for no harm shall come to you while I hold the rod of justice in my hands! The "rod of justice" was no mere figure of speech, but a wand, which the judge was wont by custom to carry. It fell out that his words came true, for no harm came to Pizarro while he held it in his hands, as will soon be shown.
Sunday came, June 26, ; but Pizarro did not go to church that day, giving out that he was ill. The conspirators were baffled—for there were conspirators, and they had sworn to kill Pizarro, as stated. They watched through the latticed windows of Almagro's house all the morning for the portly figure of the governor and his brilliant retinue, but in vain. At last it dawned upon them that Pizarro had been warned.
Not for me. No, nor for any one of us. The first one shall be run through with my sword! He threw open the door and darted out of the house, closely followed by the rest, with drawn swords held aloft, and shouting: "Long live the king! Death to the tyrant! President John F. Kennedy expresses solidarity with democratic German citizens in a speech on June 26, On June 26, , lightning hits a gunpowder factory in the small European country of Luxembourg, killing more than people.
Lightning kills approximately 73 people every year in the United States alone, but victims are almost always killed one at a time. The Luxembourg Margaret Harold is shot and killed while out for a drive with her boyfriend near Annapolis, Maryland. In response to the Soviet blockade of land routes into West Berlin, the United States begins a massive airlift of food, water, and medicine to the citizens of the besieged city. For nearly a year, supplies from American planes sustained the over 2 million people in West Berlin.
Among the pressing Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Gay Rights. Civil War. World War II. Sign Up. Conflict and intrigue among the conquistadors of Peru persisted until Spanish Viceroy Andres Hurtado de Mendoza established order in the late s. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Around dusk on the evening on August 29, , a group of 23 Native American activists climbs to the top of Mount Rushmore. On August 29, , the home of the Ray brothers—three HIV-positive Florida boys—burns down in what was almost certainly a case of arson.
The three brothers, who are not in the house at the time, have already faced intense discrimination due to their HIV status, and today their The Chicano Moratorium, as this massive protest was known, was peaceful until the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department entered Laguna Park, sparking violence and rioting Jackson began performing with his four brothers in the pop group the Jackson 5 when he was a child. The group scored its first No. Despite being only the third most powerful storm of the hurricane season, Katrina was among the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States.
In the Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. On August 29, , Brazilian distance runner Vanderlei de Lima is attacked by a spectator while running the marathon, the final event of the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. At the time of the incident, De Lima had a second lead in the race with four miles to go.
De Lima, Ishi, who was described as the last surviving member of the Native Amercain Yahi tribe, is discovered in California on August 29, By the first decade of the 20th century, Euro-Americans had so overwhelmed the North American continent that scarcely any Native Americans On August 29, , the Swedish-born actress and three-time Academy Award winner Ingrid Bergman dies of cancer on her 67th birthday.
Bergman, who was best known for her role as Ilsa Lund in Casablanca, created an international scandal in when she had a son with the Italian It would go on to cause deaths from Puerto Rico to New England over the next two weeks. On August 31, Donna attained hurricane status and headed west toward the Richard Jewell, the hero security guard turned Olympic bombing suspect, dies at age 44 of natural causes at his Georgia home. On July 27, , during the Summer Games in Atlanta, a pipe bomb with nails went off in crowded Centennial Olympic Park, killing one woman and injuring Confederate General Robert E.
Frustrated with McClellan, who was
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